Cupcake Day
by Onagamail99
Summary: Rainbow Dash dies during the events of Cupcakes only to find herself awake the very morning that it happened. Can Rainbow prevent the horrors from happening again or will she be doomed to cycle through it again and again?
1. Loop 1

"I want to go home Pinkie." Rainbow Dash's voice was weak due to her blood loss and she could barely get it above a whisper. Her sides ached where two bloody stumps that were once her glorious wings were and her flank burned where Pinkie removed the cutie marks with all the care and delicacy of a pony scraping gum from a sidewalk.

A horrific pain radiated from Rainbow's forelegs, two nails...no it was hardly fair to call them that. Two railroad spikes were driven through the blue mare's legs, driven straight into the table that Dash lay strapped to. Two jumper cables is what Pinkie called them were attached to either spike and connected to a...some sort of device Dash wasn't all that sure was. Whatever it was it sent electricity through the cables when Pinkie turned it on. Thankfully it off. For now at least.

"Yeah, I can see wanting that." Pinkie said "Sometimes, I just wanna give up, just say 'I'm done with this mess' and go to bed. But you know what? You can't shrug off your responsibilities. You got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That's the only way you're going to get ahead in life."

Dash hung her head and cried, not sure if it was out of fear, pain or confusion to what this crazy mare was talking about. Unsure of what to expect, Dash just readied herself for whatever it was Pinkie had in mind. Minutes passed with no sound in the room other than Rainbow's own continued sobbing. Suddenly she wen numb, the anesthetic Pinkie injected moments ago finally taking effect. Noticing this, Pinkie grabbed the scalpel from the tray of death and bounced towards Rainbow. She'd be lying if she said she didn't hope Pinkie would fall just this once and take herself out. Not that it would solve anything, but it would be satisfying to say the least.

But alas, Pinkie made it safely as she always did and continued her work. Without warning she made a long horizontal cut across Dash's pelvis, just above her crotch. Dash squinted and gritted her teeth awaiting the icy hot pain of the sharp blade cutting into her, but amazingly she didn't feel anything but the pressure of the blade against her which, while it did feel weird, wasn't at all painful. Not that it made her feel any better about having a gash right above her pelvis, but at least it didn't hurt for once.

Pinkie looked up and grinned, moving up Dash's body she made a twin cut just below her ribcage and followed that with a long vertical cut down her stomach to connect the two cuts. Pinkie giggled suddenly as if she just remembered a joke. " Looks like I got my 'eye' on you Dashie" She said putting emphasis on the 'eye.' Dash tried to groan but all that she could let out was a hiss of air which was lost to the fit of giggles Pinkie suddenly lost herself in. If she had to power and ability to facehoof right now, she would.

Pinkie opened the flaps of flesh that used to be Dash's lower trunk with a wet gooey sound. Rainbow stared at her own organs, her breath intensifying and she could feel the acrid taste and burn of bile rising in the back of her throat. She would have puked but held it back out of respect of her own body. Dash did everything. Everything she could to look away from her own open body but try as she might she didn't have the power to look away. Heck, she could hardly move her eyes let alone her whole head.

Pinkie clearly seemed to be enjoying herself, laughing with almost a manic air to her voice as she separated Rainbow's digestive tract. Then she did the most horrific act of the entire ordeal. She started to make body puns. "Look at me, I'm Rarity!" Pulling Dash's colon from the mixed remains of her digestive system she slung the slimy mass of muscle around her neck, flinging blood and...Dash really didn't want to think what else got flung out of there. "Isn't my scarf simply divine darling?" Pinkie impersonated the white unicorn. Dash shuddered, whether from blood loss or that awful impression she wasn't sure.

"Let's what else I can find in my bag of tricks." Pinkie laughed and reached back inside of Dash she cut the small intestine out and started pulling it out of Dash. Much like a magician would pull out his "endless" handkerchiefs. As soon as she got the long tube from the pegasus she squeezed the excrement from the inside and jammed it into her teeth, moving it back and forth. "Dentists say you gotta floss everyday Dash." Pinkie said though it didn't come out so clearly due to her mouth being filled with intestine. How she even managed to get it between her teeth is a mystery.

Dash was hardly paying attention at this point, her blood was pouring out and she was fading fast. Pinkie wasn't pleased.

Dash's ears perked at Pinkie's voice however and she started listening again. "Aw don't go yet Dash. Pinkie, clearly not satisfied with the pain she's caused already started to pull out more of Dash's organs and much to Dash's sadness, came up with a pun for each one. "I know I can be a real pancreas, but you know I'm just kidney with you. You really gotta liver it up. Boy these jokes are getting bladder. Guess you gotta develop the stomach to them." Dash wished the sweet embrace of death would take her soon.

Thankfully her wish would be granted, soon after Pinkie finished her puns Dash slipped out of consciousness. And never woke up.

"CAW! CAW!"

Until the morning that is. Rainbow Dash sat up in her bed with a start, her bed stained by a cold sweat. Rainbow sat in bed, catching her breath was seemingly hard to do. She put her hoof to her chest in an attempt to slow her heart then moved it to her stomach. Nothing but her own cyan fur greeted her hoof. "A dream?" She said aloud to no one. "It was all just a dream." She said and slid back into her covers with a relieved sigh. 'No a nightmare. What the buck WAS that?' She wondered. Of course Pinkie wouldn't try to butcher one of her best friends but, it all felt so real to her. She could still feel the pain of it all. The splitting headache she woke up with, the pain of her wings getting cut off, her cuttie marks peeled from her flank, the spikes getting driven into her forelegs, the electricity, the numb surgery. It all felt as though it really happened.

"CAW! CAW!"

Rainbow looked to her windowsill and noticed the crow staring at her with its beady black eyes. She got up to remove it from her house but it suddenly flew off on its own. Unperturbed she made for her kitchen, a desperate need for coffee. Her wings started to flap and rainbow lifted herself off the ground hovering down through her house flying down her stairs she wondered absentmindedly why she even has stairs, its not like she uses them. Rainbow hovered through her halls straight towards her kitchen. Once inside she flew to her sink and filled a container full of water then made her way to some contraption that Twilight came up with called...something long and complicated, Dash wasn't really paying attention when she said its name. But she was paying attention to how it works. Apparently all you have to do is fill the back of the thing with water and turn your stove on. Then you simply put the filter in and fill it with coffee and close the lid. Once the water starts to boil...yadda yadda, something scientific, it makes coffee and that's all Dash cared about.

No matter how convenient it might be it still took forever to work. Dash considered just forgetting the whole thing and making tea instead, but she already started the contraption so buck it, coffee it is. Rainbow timed it, it took a half and hour to finally make enough coffee for a single cup. She could have flown down to Ponyville, bought and drank four cups of coffee in that amount of time. Rainbow took a sip of the coffee, it was outrageously bitter, so much so that she actually needed to put sugar into it. Rainbow NEVER puts sugar in her coffee. She wanted to curse the machine for giving her such sub par coffee but she couldn't really fault it for the type of coffee she pays for. What she could fault it for is how long it takes to make this sub par mud. It might not taste great but at least in Ponyville she didn't have to wait long for her mud.

Oh well. With her body at least somewhat caffeinated and her mind awake she spread her wings and took off through an open window, not feeling like dealing with her door at this moment. As Dash flew over the skys of Ponyville she couldn't help but think about that horrible nightmare. Why in the world would she even have it in the first place? And why Pinkie of all ponies? And most importantly, why did it all feel so real? At that thought the memories came back at full force, the sensations of that horrific day striking her all at once nearly took her out of the sky, but her wings caught her soon enough before she hit the ground.

The display didn't go unnoticed however and many ponies had stopped and stared at her, concern etched to their faces. It wasn't everyday that a pegasus nearly falls out of the sky. Well okay for Rainbow Dash it was but not in that way. "Are you okay?" A cream colored mare asked her. She was an Earth pony with a curly blue and pink mane and light blue eyes. She had the tendency to change her voice a lot. Dash let out a short giggle nervously rubbing the back of her rainbow mane. "He he, yeah I'm alright Bon Bon. Just uh, trying out a new trick is all." She quickly covered herself. Bon Bon sighed in relief that Rainbow wasn't hurt though the other ponies didn't really seem to buy it, they moved on none the less.

"Thank goodness you aren't hurt. That was a pretty cool trick too. I'm sure it takes a lot of grace to be able to pull yourself out of free fall safely" She said and Rainbow grinned and gave her a nervous blush "Heh, me graceful?" When Rainbow thought of words that described her "graceful" was about as far down on the list as "Girly." Despite her thoughts Rainbow took the compliment. "So what's in the bag?" Rainbow asked feeling a little snoopy. Bon Bon just smiled and reached inside with her mouth, pulling out of it with a bag of sweets clenched in her teeth. "Ohh, what are they?" This was weird behavior, even for Rainbow but she needed something, anything to keep her mind off of Pinkie. As luck would have it, this was the wrong subject to bring up.

"Oh these are just some candies I picked up for Lyra from Sugar Cube Corner." Rainbow stopped dead and her heart began to race, her eyes widened even further as Bon Bon went on with her story. "Strange though, they closed just as soon as I left. Oh! And Pinkie was looking for you." Rainbow took a step back "Y-you don't don't say?" She said trying to keep herself as cool as possible. Bon Bon was oblivious to the sudden change in the cyan pegasus and simply smiled brighter. "Well I'd best get these to Lyra. She'll be so happy." Rainbow nodded in agreement and Bon Bon bid her goodbye. "Have fun with Pinkie!" She called off before trotting to her home, blissfully unaware of what she just said to Dash.

Rainbow put her hoof to her chest again to slow her heart, the memories of that dream so vivid again she almost lost it on the side of the street but thankfully she pulled together. 'There's nothing to be afraid of' She thought to herself. 'Pinkie isn't some psycho killer, she's weird and random but not a killer.' But despite her thoughts Rainbow decided that a trip to Pinkie's was out of the question and readied herself to take off into the sky, but then she heard it. That tauntingly sweet voice trilling in Rainbow's ears. "There you are Dashie!" 'Horseapples!' She thought. Rainbow considered simply flying away but memories of the time she tried to escape Pinkie during the planing of her surprise party told her it didn't matter where she went.

'Rotten horseapples!' Defeated she turned around to face her nightmare. She wasn't ready. She almost screamed at the sight of the fluffy pink pony, even though her eyes contained no malice, no, they were like that in the dream too. Pinkie Pie bounced right up to Rainbow greeting her with a hug. "I've been looking for you all day! Didn't you remember that you planned on spending the day with me?" She asked looking a bit crest fallen. Dash sighed, killer or no Pinkie was her friend and she couldn't stand to see her look sad. "I'm sorry Pinkie, I must have lost track of time while I was practicing." She lied. The truth is that she was simply avoiding Pinkie. Of course she would run into Pinkie right here. Rainbow had pretty crappy luck sometimes.

Pinkie seemed to consider Dash's words then smiled suddenly. "Well you did say you're sorry so I guess it's all right." Pinkie instantly began bouncing again and Rainbow watched her carefully. "So, what exactly did you have in mind for us to do?" Pinkie began to bounce back in the direction she had come from. "I'll tell you back at Sugar Cube Corner!" She continued but Dash didn't. Confused, Pinkie stopped and looked at her. "What's the matter?" "Tell me now Pinkie!" She nearly screamed.

Pinkie was taken aback at the sudden outburst but still she complied. "Well okay then, but only because you're my Ultra Super Best Friend." Pinkie said and Dash waited in anticipation. She wasn't sure what Pinkie was going to say and yet, she knew exactly what she would say as soon as it came from her mouth. "We're going to be making CUPCAKES!"

Dash swallowed hard.


	2. Loop 2

Pinkie Pie bounced down the street chattering incessantly about some sort of nonsense that Rainbow Dash wasn't paying any attention to; her mind was elsewhere. Try as she might she just couldn't convince herself that this was just going to be a normal day with Pinkie, though she couldn't say for sure that her dream would be happening either. Nonetheless, Rainbow was vigilant, keeping Pinkie a good distance from her as they walked.

Rainbow watched Pinkie as she bounced happily oblivious to her friend's concern, or maybe she was aware and just ignoring it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with her, not that anything was ordinary when it came to Pinkie but she did seem to be acting Pinkie Pie normal. 'She acted this way in the dream too.' That thought had occurred to Rainbow several times during this trip. Despite the fact that she had brutally murdered Rainbow, she stayed her normal Pinkie Pie self. That thought alone nearly made Rainbow lose it on the rode.

This went on for the duration of the trip, Rainbow would talk herself out of Pinkie being a murderer only convince herself otherwise. The only way she was going to know was to go through with the day, an option that made her feel sick.

"Right Dashie?" Dash's thoughts stopped once her name was mentioned. "Huh?" She replied dumbly, completely unaware of what Pinkie had been talking about previously. "I said, We're going to have so much fun today! Right Dashie?" Rainbow smiled weakly, killer or not if Dash spent the day with Pinkie then the anxiety alone would kill her before Pinkie did. "Y-yeah we sure are." Dash said, completely uncertain about her words. Pinkie grinned, happy that her friend thought she would enjoy this day. Pinkie continued to bounce towards their destination and it didn't take long to see the pink bakery come into full view.

Dash considered just picking a direction and flying in it until her wings could go no more, but she knew how tenacious Pinkie was about chasing her friends, it would never work. But as they came closer to the building Dash's thoughts began race, 'I need to get out of here!' With that thought firmly in mind Dash readied herself to escape.

"Hey Pinkie." Pinkie stopped immediately and turned to her friend, smiling broadly. "What is it Dashie?" Dash sighed, she didn't really think of an excuse but Pinkie wouldn't hold her here against her will right? If her dream was anything to be believed then of course she would but it was worth a try. "Listen, I'm feeling really tired all of a sudden. Do you think that maybe we could do this tomorrow?" Pinkie frowned "But I planned something really special for you." Dash rubbed the back of her head, her wings worked automatically, hovering her off the ground. "Yeah but it could wait until tomorrow right? It's not like I'm going anywhere, I just want to take a nap." Pinkie's smile quickly returned ten fold and she reached out, grabbing Dash's hoof with her own, holding it like a vice.

Try as she might Rainbow just couldn't pull herself free from Pinkie's grip. "You can take a nap right after you help me with something!" Rainbow recoiled at the sudden outburst. Before she could object however Pinkie began pulling Rainbow straight to Sugar Cube Corner. Dash desperately tried to pull away, digging her hooves into the ground, but that only resulted in a twin set of tracks carved into the dirt. "No really Pinkie! I don't want to help today!" Dash yelled but to no avail, Pinkie pulled her along her along as if she was nothing more than toy.

"Don't worry Dashie, this won't take long and you'll be asleep before you know it." This did little to ease her mind, it was true, Dash was sure of it. Today was the day that Rainbow Dash was going die. She considered calling for help but who would believe her? It's not an uncommon sight to see Rainbow Dash being dragged along by her friends, and nopony was certainly going to believe that Pinkie was going to kill her. Anypony that knew Pinkie Pie knew that she couldn't hurt a fly. Defeated, Dash simply allowed herself to be brought to the bakery.

Despite her imminent death, Dash's mouth couldn't help but water at the aroma of hundreds of baked goods on display. Display counters filled with fresh donuts, fruit tarts, and eclairs. Cakes of all different sizes were set up on top of the counters, each decoration looking like a work of art. Sweet, buttery rolls were set up right next to the cakes, they looked hot and fresh from the oven. All of this food made Dash forget entirely about why she was brought here in the first place, until Pinkie lifted a cupcake right up to Dash's nose. Her stomach growled and out of instinct she almost snatched it off of Pinkie's hoof but her dream sprung painfully back into her mind and instead forced a different reaction all together. Rainbow lashed her hoof out with a surprised gasp, smacking the poisoned cupcake out of Pinkie's hoof.

Surprised, Pinkie dove for the cake before it splattered onto the ground and gave Rainbow a confused look. Dash stood in the middle of the shop, her hoof still outstretched and panting heavily. Her eyes were wide and her heart was racing as though she just took on Spitfire in a race. Pinkie got up, setting the cupcake onto a shelf, her concern clear in her features. "Dashie are you okay?" She asked jumping into Dash's view suddenly. Rainbow leapt back at the sudden intrusion, and backed away until she hit a wall. "St-stay away from me Pinkie!" Rainbow yelled, her dream all too vivid. Rainbow looked to the cupcake, remembering that eating that is what set everything into motion.

Pinkie didn't heed the warning, walking towards Dash, her ears drooped down and gave her friend a concerned frown. "What's the matter with you Dashie?" 'What's the matter with me? What's the matter with you!' Dash thought to herself, she wasn't going to be a victim, she tried to walk out of the shop but her body wouldn't respond. Pinkie continued to try to console the terrified blue pegasus. " All I wanted to do was offer you a cupcake. You sounded hungry." Pinkie explained. Dash could feel her heart start to slow down, but she wouldn't be fooled by some story. Pinkie took another step forward but Dash yelled at her which stopped her immediately. "Stay away from me murderer!"

Pinkie stood in front of Rainbow with a look of absolute shock. "Mur-mu-m" She stuttered, unable to get the horrific word from her mouth. "Why would you say that Dashie?" Pinkie asked, clearly hurt in her voice. Her mane and tail suddenly deflated but Dash would not be deterred by this display, she would not fall for it. Dash looked to the door and thought of just steeling herself up and just leaving, but it would be impossible. Even if she did manage to get the door opened and out of the building before Pinkie could grab her, she still knew that Pinkie could follow her just about anywhere. She considered fighting but wasn't sure if she could walk straight let alone fight Pinkie in this condition.

Pinkie took a slow step toward Rainbow. "I promise you Dashie I don't want to hurt you. You're my friend." She tried to assure Rainbow but she didn't buy it. Then an idea struck her, the cupcake was poisonous, so Pinkie wouldn't eat it, and if Pinkie doesn't eat the cupcake then that means that she really is trying to kill Dash. But if she does eat the cupcake then that would make Dash look like an ass. A terrified, paranoid, ass. Rainbow quickly decided that it would be better to look like an ass than a cupcake.

"That cupcake." She said, motioning toward the cupcake on the counter. Pinkie stared at it and noticeably swallowed when Dash when issued her command. "Eat it." Pinkie smiled nervously and shook her head. "But I made that especially for you. There's nothing weird about it, trus-" "EAT IT!" Rainbow yelled. With a sigh of defeat Pinkie asked one last question. "If I do this then will you believe me?" Rainbow nodded. Pinkie smiled suddenly and nodded, hopping over to the counter she grabbed the pastry and popped into her mouth, chewing noisily as she did so. "See? Told you it was fine!" She said as she swallowed it. Rainbow Dash sighed, sliding down to the floor as she did so. 'Thank Celestia.' She thought, hot tears falling from her eyes. Rainbow felt a warm hoof on her back suddenly and looked up to see Pinkie Looking down at her, a kind smile on her Pink face. She she looked into those warm cerulean eyes she wondered how she could ever think those could be the eyes of a killer. "I'm so sorry Pinkie." Dash said and she got up to give Pinkie a hug. "It's okay Dashie. I'm not sure where you came up with that though. Do you eat sweets before you go to bed? I do and I get nightmares all the time. They can be pretty scary sometimes can't they?" Rainbow merely nodded in agreement.

The two of them sat in each other's embrace for who knew how much time, but Pinkie suddenly broke it with an announcement that they would get started soon. Rainbow raised herself off of the ground and followed Pinkie into the kitchen. She returned with a muffin pan already filled with batter which confused Rainbow. "I thought I was helping you make the cupcakes." Pinkie giggled. "You are silly! But it's no fun to make the batter so I decided to do that myself. All you have to do is put this pan in the oven and once they're done you'll help me decorate them!" Rainbow nodded, decorating did sound more fun than making batter after all. She took the pan from Pinkie and made for the oven which Pinkie opened for her, glad that her fears were finally put to rest. Rainbow stuck her head inside and set the pan as centered as she could make it. "What are we going to do while we wait for this?" Rainbow asked once her mouth was free, "Oh, I know a great thing we could do while we wait." Pinkie said. Suddenly, the oven door slammed closed before Rainbow could get her head out of it and everything went dark for her. As she passed out, only one thought came to Rainbow's mind. 'Lying bitch.'

Rainbow Dash awoke, her head feeling like it had just been split in half. She couldn't see anything but she knew where she was, her dream was true, and Rainbow kicked herself for believing otherwise. Rainbow felt like she was floating, but was suspended by something, straps she came to realize, everything becoming painfully clear. She really was just back in...wherever it was that Pinkie did this. She assumed it was under Sugar Cube Corner but could just as well be in the Everfree Forest. Not that it mattered, it might as well have been on the damn moon for all the good it would do Dash.

Rainbow's ears perked as she heard a sound in the inky blackness of the dungeon, hoofsteps, and something hard like bones clattering together. Rainbow didn't need to think twice as to who it was, she tried her best to come up with words but her throat was dry, she did manage to croak something out though. "I know it's you Pinkie." The sounds stopped immediately and the figure went still as if thinking. Suddenly Pinkie, though she disguised her voice badly, spoke up. "Who is this 'Pinkie' Pony you speak of?" "Knock it off Pinkie!" Dash screamed, rage began to fill her where her pity was. "I can't believe that you lied to me like that! I can't believe that I actually listened! I KNEW you were a murderer!"

Pinkie only giggled in response. "Yes you were right about me. But that's enough about me." She said a light turned on suddenly, revealing Pinkie right in front of Rainbow, her cerulean eyes just as warm as they were back at the bakery, and wearing a giddy smile as she usually did. "Let's talk about you." Rainbow had to squint, something was much different this time. Last time the light, while blinding lit up the whole room but this time Rainbow could see only Pinkie as well as some blank walls. Definitely not the same room. But Pinkie still donned the same outfit as Dash's dream, a dream made entirely out of cutie marks, a necklace of unicorn horns and six pairs of pegasus wings stitched to the back all of which fluttered eerily in the dim of the light.

"So tell me Dashie, how exactly did you know all of this about me? I make it one of my first priorities not to get caught." She said, giving Dash a intrigued look. Rainbow merely growled at her in response. "I'm not telling you anything." Rainbow said dangerously. Pinkie smiled at her. "Alright then, suit yourself." She hopped out of the light, leaving Rainbow with no way of knowing where she was except for the clopping of hooves against the hard flooring and the clatter of unicorn horns on her necklace. "Take a look at this!" Pinkie called out as a cart of equipment came rolling into the light and smashed into Dash's leg. Rainbow grunted mostly out of surprise and looked down at the tray expecting to see the same things she did in her dream. But they weren't all there.

Some of the same things were still there, the knife glinted menacingly in the light, the hacksaw looked painfully sharp. But some of the other things were gone, replaced by something else. Dash noticed a hammer and a box of nails on the cart, and a jar filled with some sort of clear liquid and a glass tube. "Don't these look fun?" Rainbow stared at the torture instruments and nearly lost herself. "To who, you or me?" "Both of us silly!" Rainbow shook her head. "No." Pinkie suddenly came back into view and grabbed the knife off of the cart. "Did you enjoy your nap?" She asked, though it was muffled through the knife. "Well it doesn't matter. Are you going to answer my question from earlier?" She asked to which Rainbow remained quiet. With a shrug Pinkie lowered her head, and stabbed the knife straight into Rainbow's knee. A white hot pain Dash has never felt before radiated out through her body. Blood pouring liberally from her knee.

Dash screamed out but quickly gritted her teeth, she wasn't going to give Pinkie the satisfaction. "Aw, looks like somepony needs a patella on the head." Pinkie broke out into a fit of giggles over her joke, Dash simply groaned, half out of pain and half out of how lame that joke was. Noticing Rainbow's distinct lack of laughing she came up with another joke. "Aw come on Dashie, that one was a real knee slapper wasn't it?" Pinkie smacked her injured knee eliciting a yelp of pain from Dash. Pinkie went back down to the knife, clenching the hilt in her mouth and slowly she began to twist it. Dash kept quiet for as long as she could but the pain became to much to bear and she began to scream in sync with the twisting knife. Pinkie continued this until there was a loud pop and a wet smack. Dash's kneecap was just forcibly removed.

Dash relaxed when the knife finally came out, her knee throbbing, her breath was ragged already from her lack of hydration but now it felt like she was swallowing sandpaper with each breath. "Did that wake you up? I was really going for a knee jerk reaction." Rainbow's breath was heavy but she still managed out some words that desperately needed to be said, "Shu-shut up." Pinkie frowned. "Well that wasn't very nice of you." She said. Pinkie grabbed the knife a gain and thrust it into Dash's other knee without warning, twisting it as fast as she could to pop the other kneecap out. The pain was too much for Rainbow to bear, she felt a warm substance other than blood come out of her through her crotch. Pinkie managed to dodge out of the way just in time to avoid having a shower she didn't need nor want. Rainbow's head dipped as she passed out.

Dash awoke sometime later with a very annoyed looking Pinkie glaring at her. "So how was you SECOND nap? You know it's very rude to fall asleep on somepony. You wouldn't like it if I fell asleep during the Best Young Flyer competition would you?" Pinkie asked, but Dash was hardly paying any attention, her mind was hazy, her knees throbbed, and throat felt raw. Pinkie apparently wasn't a happy pony right now as she retrieved her hammer the cart and pulled a nail from the box. Without warning Pinkie placed the nail into the crook of Dash's elbow and struck it with the hammer. Dash yelled as she was jolted awake by the sudden pain. The nail was long enough to drive itself straight though Dash's foreleg and into the table.

"So I bet you're curious." Pinkie said, satisfied with the reaction she got from Dash. "About what." Dash wheezed. She was curious about a lot of things admittedly, why did she have a dream about this? Why wasn't she in the place that was in the dream? Why did this have to happen to her? "About how I wasn't affected by the cupcake." Rainbow nodded. "It's really simple actually. I keep the antidote on me. I took it while you bowed your head. Pretty convenient of you I might add You were right to suspect the cupcake after all." Dash sighed, that's a load. Pinkie grinned suddenly as she grabbed another nail from the box. "Now I'm really going to nail this point in Dashie." And she did just that, driving another nail into Dash's other elbow, she gritted her teeth again, determined not to give Pinkie any satisfaction but when Pinkie drove the nails through her knees she couldn't hold back the screams.

Almost satisfied with her work, Pinkie decided she had one more nail to drive. "Now watch closely Dashie, this one's a real eye opener." To Dash's horror she saw the tip of the nail hovered right above her left eye. Dash opened her mouth to object but only managed a scream as the nail flew straight through her pupil. Dash felt the blood run from her eye and trace a red path down her cyan body. Dash's breath shuddered her voice nearly completely screamed out. Pinkie went back to the cart and retrieved the knife again. "You know Dashie, I usually plan this really far ahead, but today I just felt like winging it." Pinkie brought the knife down onto Rainbow's wing, pain surged through her as the knife sliced flesh and bone. The knife didn't get all the way through the wing so Pinkie struck it again, this time with no flesh to stop to knife she hit the bone. Dash struggled and fought at the bonds but they were too much for her and she was far too weak to even try anymore.

Pinkie swung again but missed the wing entirely, hitting Dash's lower torso. She tried again and again but what few hits she got on the wing were minute and did little in the way of cutting through it. Finally, fed up with dealing with the knife Pinkie just grabbed hold of the wing and tore it straight off with sound of ripping flesh and bone. Blood splattered all over Dash and the floor, even Pinkie was beginning to look more red than pink. Pinkie moved on to the next wing but this time discarded the knife, opting for the much easier to use bone sawing hacksaw. But this didn't come without its questions. "Hey Dashie, why do they call it a hacksaw? Hacking is what I was doing with the knife, but this is a saw."

Dash was hardly listening at this point, she hadn't the energy to even scream let alone answer some riddle. Pinkie went to work sawing at Dash's wing but only got about halfway before getting impatient and tearing it away as well. Though this tear wasn't nearly as clean, a strip of flesh decided to go against man and stayed attached to the wing, tearing a red line all the way to Dash's flank. Rainbow couldn't hold her self any longer, the pain was unbearable, she lost herself and barfed onto the floor in front of her. Pinkie one again dodged out of the way to avoid getting any of Rainbow's lunch.

"Are you having as much fun as I am Dashie?" Pinkie asked as she grabbed the clear liquid and tube from the cart. Rainbow didn't say anything, she couldn't say anything. She could only hope that her end would be met soon. Pinkie came back still awaiting an answer, when one didn't come she tipped Dash's head up towards the ceiling and placed the glass tube in her mouth. "Come on Dashie, I know I can be a bit of an acid, but that doesn't mean you have to give me the silent treatment." And with those words she tipped the clear liquid into the tube. It Dash the moment it touched her tongue to know what it was.

Pinkie jumped back once again to avoid being hit with much more dangerous puke. The acid bubbled inside of Rainbow, fizzing back up her esophagus and running out of her mouth and down her body as a fizzy red foam. Dash mumbled and gurgled as her insides were dissolved by the highly corrosive acid, it broke through her esophagus and poured into her stomach though it didn't take long to burn through Dash's stomach walls.

Though Dash's dream didn't happen exactly as she saw it, she started to wonder if it even was a dream, as her life fizzled away, Dash heard the taunting giggles of a very satisfied Pinkie. The last thing she saw from her one working eye was the ravaged remains of what the acid left behind, large holes had opened up on Dash revealing much of her insides, her ribs were clearly visible as well as her digestive tract. Pinkie did say one last parting word to Rainbow as she shuffled off into the after life. "Bye Dashie" Rainbow bowed her head and closed her eyes, glad that her ordeals were finally over.

"CAW! CAW!" Or not.


	3. Loop 3

Rainbow Dash sat at her table with her head pressed firmly into its cloudy top, so exhausted that even when her stupid coffee machine alerted her to its completion she couldn't bring herself to drag her head from its position. Rainbow sighed as she stared into her table, the blank white that filled her vision doing little to ease her brain. Her body hurt all over, like somepony had just taken a stick to her everywhere, her legs felt like jelly whenever she tried to walk and wings didn't fair much better. She could still feel the acidic burn in her throat, and every breath she took seemed to tear it apart.

Rainbow didn't look much better than she felt, her normally messy rainbow mane from which she got her name was tangled and matted down with sweat, the colored locks sticking stubbornly to her face. There were dark circles under her eyes and bags so large it was like they just returned from a shopping spree. Her tail's hair had tangled into itself and now resembled something more of a blunt object than anything else.

Rainbow jumped at a shrill beep coming from the other side of the kitchen then sighed. One of the problems with Twilight's coffee machine is that once it alerted you that it was ready, it didn't stop. Grudgingly, Rainbow pulled her head up and pushed herself away from the table, walking carefully across the room to shut the machine off. Now that she was up she figured it wouldn't hurt to get a cup, she really needed one after all.

_I need more than this._ She thought to herself and she poured the dark brown fluid into a mug. _Maybe I should go lose myself at the watering hole._ A nice thought but she knew it wouldn't do anything for her but give her even more of a headache. Instead Rainbow simply down the bitter beverage and started to pour herself another cup when she started to think about her dream.

_I can hardly call those dreams._ Rainbow was sure that something weird was happening. This was the third time that she was reliving this day now and she wasn't so certain that her dreams were simply in her head. Though she couldn't really explain what was happening at all. Why was she living this day again? What was going to happen today? She didn't know but one thing she did know was that she planned on avoiding Pinkie like a disease today.

If Rainbows dreams were anything to go off of, then Pinkie would start looking for her after she missed the date by about an hour. She considered staying home but she knew this would be one of the first places Pinkie checked. Rainbow thought maybe spending a day with Applejack would work. No. Pinkie knows that Applejack is Rainbow's best friend and rival. She would definitely look for her there. Besides if Pinkie did come looking then how would she hide? Applejack couldn't lie to save her life. Or Rainbow's. Maybe Fluttershy's. She shook her head. How could she ask Fluttershy to lie to one of her friends for a reason that Rainbow knew would sound ridiculous. Besides, she wouldn't risk bringing Fluttershy into this. Rainbow sighed. Rarity?

_I think I'd rather just give myself up to Pinkie._ Rainbow knew she couldn't tolerate an entire day alone with that mare. _Hey! How about Twilight's?_ This could work, after all, anypony who knew Rainbow knew that unless she absolutely needed something then she wouldn't be caught dead at the library. _But wait._ A thought just occurred to her, Twilight can't keep a secret. Rainbow groaned and pushed her hooves into her face, letting out a silent scream. All these friends and not a single one could help her. Rainbow sighed and fell backwards onto her floor, staring up at her cloudy ceiling she began to consider her options again.

Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity were out. But Twilight could work out. After all, out of all of her friends, Twilight was the most likely to believe this story and the most likely to be able to help. But then, what if Twilight eds up getting caught up in everything? Rainbow would feel awful if she put her through that. _What would it matter? It'll all just go back to the beginning again._ This thought had occurred to Rainbow but what if it all didn't? Was that a risk she was willing to take? Rainbow mulled this over for a while longer and decided that it would be worth the risk. She'd be careful that Twilight wouldn't get too involved with...whatever this was.

Rainbow was lucky enough that her house had drifted over the river so after a quick dip to make her look a little more presentable she started to make her way to the library, concerned about what she may be putting her friend through. Rainbow stopped before she reached Ponyville however, a thought racing to her mind. If somepony saw her heading towards the library then she'd be sunk. Thinking fast she looked around for some sort of disguise when she saw it. It wasn't much but it would work, a small cumulus cloud drifting slowly in the cool spring time breeze.

Rainbow dashed into the cloud, scrunching herself up as small as she can and peering out of the cloud. She wrapped her tail around herself so it wouldn't stick from the cloud. She couldn't see much with the cloud mostly in the way but she could see enough to navigate around. Satisfied with her disguise, Rainbow flexed her wings out just enough to flap them and propel the cloud from inside. It was slow and uncomfortable but it was working, Rainbow drifted across the sky looking down on Ponyville and watching everypony go about their daily routine. She saw Carrot Top greeting Ponies to her stand of vegetables and conducting business as usual. Dinky Hooves ran by underneath Rainbow, Ruby Pinch following close behind. Rainbow continued to scan the area until she saw a familiar sight that made her heart stop. Bon Bon walking down the street, bags full of sweets at her sides.

_It's that late already?_ Rainbow knew she didn't have much time then. She considered turning and going another way so as not to pass by her but it was already too late. There she was, hopping down the street without a single care in the world, as if she wasn't planning on brutally murdering one of her friends today. The very sight of her started to fill Rainbow with such a rage that she almost tore out of the cloud and beat the Pink out of that pony. Yet at the same time, seeing her filled Rainbow with just about as much fear that she almost screamed when she saw her. Never had Rainbow ever been so angry yet afraid of something in her life.

She stayed still inside the cloud, not daring to move a muscle in fear that Pinkie would see her. Pinkie bounced along and then stopped to talk to Bon Bon. Rainbow strained her ears to listen in on what they were talking about but she was just too high up to hear, it all came back as muffled nothings. Time passed and Pinkie eventually moved on from Bon Bon and continued down the road away from Rainbow. To say she was relieved would be an understatement. With a potential crisis averted, Rainbow continued along her way towards Twilight's library.

Rainbow continued through the sky completely concealed inside her cloud save for her eyes which peered from its fluffy recesses and the tips of her wings protruded slightly to make propelling herself more comfortable. Rainbow considered what she saw with Pinkie just moments ago, just like her dream Bon Bon had her treats and Pinkie was out looking for Rainbow. She shuddered as she started to think what would've happened if Pinkie had caught her. Rainbow really didn't know what was going on anymore, but what she did know was her dream wasn't just a dream. Somehow she was living this horrible day again. Rainbow doubled her speed to Twilight's, hoping that the purple unicorn could shed some light on this whole mess.

The library stuck out amongst all the buildings in Ponyville, a great hollowed out oak tree stood for the building. Holes cut out through the wood serving as windows and a small balcony was attached near the top of the tree right outside of Twilight's room. Rainbow thought about using the front door to get inside but the traffic around the front was too much, she'd surely be seen. She thought for a moment on what she would do when she decided to let herself in through the door on the balcony. It was high enough that anypony that was walking along outside would have to have been looking for her and she didn't see Pinkie anywhere so she figured she'd be safe.

Rainbow moved herself to the balcony and flew out of it as if it had suddenly caught fire, landing not so gracefully onto the sun baked unforgiving hard wood balcony. _Note to self: next time, check how close to the floor you are._ She could have completely given herself away with this, but thankfully nopony seemed to notice. Pleased with herself Rainbow went into the tree to find the room completely empty and the library completely silent. Worried for a moment that Twilight wasn't actually here Rainbow started towards the stairs to descend to the floor where the main meat of the library was.

As Rainbow started down the stairs she heard something, a faint knocking sound followed by Twilight's voice asking Spike to get the door. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief that she was actually here but when she heard who was at the door her heart almost stopped for the second time that day.

"Hiya Spike!" Pinkie nearly yelled to the baby dragon but he greeted her much more calmly.

"Hey Pinkie. What brings you around here?" He asked which caught Twilight's attention. Rainbow could hear her get up from where ever she was in the library and walk towards the door.

"Actually I'm looking for somepony, have either of you seen Dashie? We were suppose to spend the day together but she never showed up. I'm starting to get worried." Instinctively Rainbow began moving back up the stairs, careful that her hooves wouldn't make any noise as she did.

"Sorry, she hasn't been around here lately. Are you sure she's not just napping on a cloud?" Twilight asked. Rainbow could feel sweat starting to form on her forehead and she involuntarily started to shake. Rainbow really wished Pinkie would just go away but she continued to talk.

"I'm super-duper sure! I checked every cloud in Ponyville and she wasn't in any of them. Except..." She trailed off, pondering something though Rainbow couldn't see her to know what it was. "I don't think I checked that cloud up there." Pinkie continued. Rainbow stopped where she was. Pinkie was of course referring to the cloud she'd used to get here. Rainbow started shaking a bit more violently, hoping Pinkie didn't piece together that she was up here.

"I don't think she's up there Pinkie." Twilight said, then Rainbow heard steps coming towards her. "Spike? Where are you going?" She questioned the dragon.

"Upstairs." Was all he offered as an answer. His steps growing louder Rainbow started up the stairs again to avoid contact but soon realized that it would pointless to try to escape him. She stopped in Twilight's room and waited by the stairway's opening, planning to grab the dragon before he could say anything. Spike cleared the last of the steps and as soon as she saw him emerge from the stairs she grabbed him, pulling him close to her and wrapping a hoof around his mouth. He let out a startled though muffled yelp but quickly calmed down when he noticed the familiar hoof.

"Rainbow Dash? Is that you?" He asked as Rainbow let her hoof down just enough so he could speak.

"Yes." She whispered. "And I need you to be quiet." Spike looked up at her, confused but nodded and complied all the same.

"Did you know that Pinkie is looking for you?" He said barely above a whisper. Again she nodded. A bit of silence was shared among the two of them before Spike spoke up again. "So why don't you go see her?" He asked. Rainbow could still hear Pinkie and Twilight talking downstairs. She shook her head.

"I can't do that Spike. It's very important that Pinkie doesn't know I'm here." The purple dragon gave Rainbow a bemused look.

"Why?" He asked. Rainbow was silent. How could she explain herself to him without scaring him or coming off as a loon? Or both? She kept him held firmly against her, his spines poking her uncomfortably but she didn't dare let him go in fear of him running off and telling Twilight. Rainbow tried to think of a reasonable excuse for why she was avoiding Pinkie but could only think of one thing to tell him.

"Well, you know how Pinkie is right? Would you want to spend a whole day with that?" She asked, hoping he would accept it, though the look he had told her that he wasn't about to.

"If that's the case, then why did you say you'd' spend the day with her?" Rainbow was silent once again, she couldn't of an excuse this time but she was about to try until she heard the most wonderful of sounds. The front door closed and she couldn't hear Pinkie anymore. Rainbow let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and let go of Spike, glad she could finally explain herself to somepony.

"Spiiiiike!" Twilight called from below. "What are you doing up there?" Spike gave Rainbow a confused glance then started down the stairs.

"Nothing!" He called back down. "Hey Twi! Is Pinkie still around?" He then asked.

"No she's not. She said she would head back to Sugar Cube Corner and wait for Rainbow." She replied. Rainbow almost did a back flip right there. She escaped. She finally escaped Pinkie Pie and now she could rest easy and explain her situation to Twilight. With a new spring in her step Rainbow walked down the stairs after Spike, just happy that her ordeal might finally be over.

"Who's that?" Twilight asked but she didn't ponder it for long when Rainbow made her appearance to the unicorn. "Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?"

"Living!" She nearly shouted, earning a confused stare from both parties. But neither of them pressed her on it. "Actually I have something I want to tell you Twilight. I'm really hoping you'll be able to help me out." Twilight looked first to Spike then back to Rainbow and shrugged.

"Okay then." She said. Rainbow came off the last step and finally shared her story with somepony. By the end Twilight looked even more confused than ever though Spike had checked out of the explanation shortly after she began. Rainbow didn't go into that much detail about her sessions with Pinkie but she did enough to get the point across.

"So what you're saying is you've woken up on this day three times already and the former two Pinkie killed you and made you into cupcakes?" Rainbow nodded.

"I'm not sure if she actually made me into cupcakes though. But that's what she said she would do to me." Twilight didn't look convinced.

"We are talking about the same Pinkie here right? Sweet, lovable, bouncy, wouldn't hurt a fly?"

"That's all an act!" Rainbow yelled at her, slamming her hoof on the floor. Twilight jumped at the sudden outburst. Realizing she scared the poor mare Rainbow offered a quiet sorry.

Twilight sighed and looked Rainbow in the eye. "Look, under normal circumstances I would say that you're crazy. But given how strongly you seem to be reacting to this there has to be some reason." She turned to Spike. "Spike could you get me Dreamtide: A Reference Guide To Dreams And What They Mean?" Spike frowned at her.

"But I thought you didn't read all that dream mumbo jumbo." He said but Twilight glared at him, prompting hi to action. He retrieved a ladder and grabbed the thick book from the top shelf, wobbling a bit on the ladder he nearly lost his footing but he regained it quickly and climbed down, handing the book to Twilight. "We need to fix that ladder, it's getting wobbly." He said and Twilight nodded.

"I know but you don't have much to worry about, I can catch you if you fall." She said only half paying attention to him, more enthralled with looking through the book. "So you've been having recurring dreams every night." Twilight said to Rainbow who quickly shook her head.

"No! I've been living the same day over and over again. Each time I die it just feels like a dream." She explained. Twilight gave her a half nod and continued flipping through the pages.

"Well there's nothing in here that explains your problem then Rainbow." Twilight said a bit sad that one of her books couldn't help her friend. Rainbow sighed and put her face into her hooves. "I'm sure there's something here though. I'll keep looking for something to help."

"Well thanks for trying anyway. I have no idea what's going on, all I know is that I want it to stop." She said. Spike came back to take the book from Twilight and began climbing up the ladder again to put it back. Deciding that staying here was useless she noticed that Spike was having trouble with the ladder again. Without thinking Rainbow grabbed the ladder to hold it steady but it was too late, Spike slipped from the top rung and landed directly on Rainbow's head. She didn't feel his tail go straight through her head like a hot knife goes through butter but maybe it was better that way. Nothing. She felt nothing anymore.

"CAW! CAW!" Rainbow's eyes shot open as she once again woke up to the increasingly familiar sound of that blasted crow on her windowsill. She rose up from her bed and looked down at herself. _Definitely not dreams._ She thought then sighed. _At least it wasn't Pinkie related this time._


	4. Loop 4

**Hey everybody! This is Onagamail99 with an apology for why this took so long and an excus-er reason why it did. Anyways, my excuse for this being delayed is I have been talking to people all day and have devoted little if any time to working on this. By time working on this I mean that I opened up Open Office and...well that's as far as I got. The reason however is that I am lazy, and being lazy means little to no desire to work.**

**But that's enough of my personal life and I hope the next chapter will not be delayed like this. Anyways, sorry for the long wait but it's finally here.**

Rainbow sat in the river just on the outskirts of Ponyville cleaning herself and preparing for the day ahead of her. Her head ached like nopony's business but as soon as she dunked her head beneath the cold water it began to feel a little better. She still couldn't believe that last time actually happened and was certain that it was fluke, but the memory was painfully clear and present. She ran a hoof through her rainbow mane, pulling the multi colored locks up from her face then letting them slap her face wetly, leaving trails of water from the tips down the rest of her face, silently cursing Spike.

She sighed soon afterward though, Spike didn't mean to kill her, and she knew that but that didn't mean she couldn't feel bitter about it right? Rainbow sucked in a deep breath and dove under the river's surface, fully submerged she could feel the gentle pull of the current on her slowly taking down to Ponyville. She unfurled her wings and spread them as far they could go, the current tugging at her cyan feathers. She gave them a test flap, the water making it difficult to move her wings right, but it didn't take long for her to get it.

She spun her wings in little circles, treading the water, she kicked her legs to propel herself against the current though she let her wings do most of the work. It didn't take long for her to start moving up stream, as she was doing this she counted seconds down in head. This was something she did often, especially when she needed to clear her head of something. She loved the feel of swimming, almost as much as she loved being in the sky. The way that her burning muscles would be little more than a dull ache in the cool water, or the feeling of her lungs about to burst just before she fills them once again with air. The way her mind would rush with clarity. It almost beat out flying. Almost.

Rainbow swam faster against the slow current, her wings starting to ache with vigor and lungs painfully reminding her that she needed air but she ignored both, and just continued _125...126...127._ She continued despite her body begging her to stop. _128...129...130. _Finally she couldn't take anymore and her lungs forced her to gulp down a mouthful of water. Rainbow tore for the surface, sucking in large gulps of air almost as soon as she could cough them out. Feeling defeated and sore she swam over to the edge of the river, lifting herself halfway out of the water allowing herself to rest.

Rainbow decided this would be a good time to think about what she would do next. Looking to the sky she realized it was already time to meet Pinkie but that obviously wasn't going to happen. She wondered what she'd do next. She couldn't go to Ponyville. Not without a plan. Twilight was out. The ache in her skull painfully reminded her of that. She though again about visiting Applejack but decided that if she could end up dying in a library of all places then a farm probably wouldn't be the next brightest move. Rarity was still a definite no. Even if she did decide on her, a boutique would be even more dangerous than the farm. Rainbow considered Fluttershy but involving her meant possibly hurting her, and that was just something that Rainbow didn't want to do.

She sighed and took off into the sky, heading towards Ponyville she saw the small earth pony village on the horizon when a thought struck her. Pinkie has been the cause of all of Rainbow's misfortune. Plus she's just looking for her just to kill her. What if Rainbow got to her first though? What if Rainbow turned the tables on Pinkie? She had the advantage of knowing exactly where Pinkie would be after all. Getting to her wouldn't be difficult. A broad smile broke out over Dash's face and she bolted towards town, a new thought on her mind. _I'm coming for you Pinkie Pie._

111

Rainbow decided that the best way to find Pinkie was to use her cloud method from last time. Peering from its fluffy recesses she looked down on the residents milling about the streets or moving to whatever destination they were headed to. She scoured the many colored bodies of multiple ponies but she didn't see hide nor tail of Pinkie. Then she saw somepony that reminded her of her past loops. Bonbon, walking down the street with her bag of sweets. Rainbow's smile grew though her fear did as well, she knew that Pinkie would be here soon. Almost as if on cue, Pinkie came bouncing down the street, though she did something she didn't do last time when she did. She looked up.

Rainbow completely retreated into her cloud, like her pet tortoise Tank would when startled, her heart up in her throat, she tried to slow her breathing so nopony would notice her, but within moments she heard Pinkie conversing with Bonbon below. Rainbow let out her held breath slowly so as not to attract any attention, relieved but now she was posed with a problem. How would she take Pinkie down without attracting everypony's attention. After all, it wouldn't look good for Rainbow if she just outright killed her friend in front of so many witnesses.

Pinkie moved on after speaking with Bonbon, a fact that Rainbow hardly paid any attention to, but she could hear the strange spring like noise Pinkie made when bouncing going away from her. Rainbow decided what she would do. She would wait for Pinkie at Sugar Cube Corner and get the drop on her. After all, Pinkie wouldn't expect Rainbow to be waiting exactly where she started right? A plan in mind now, Rainbow started towards Sugar Cube Corner, her anxiety rising quickly as she did so.

The elaborately decorated bakery was dark and for all of it's brightly colored decorations didn't look at all inviting to Rainbow. Despite this she made her was to the front door, waiting until she was alone on the street to investigate the bright building. The door was locked and the interior dark. Such a strange phenomenon for the Sugar Cube Corner to be closed in the middle of the day. Rainbow Looked around the perimeter of the building in search of an alternative way inside and found one. The window to Pinkie's room was open. Without even thinking Rainbow flew up to the very top of the bakery to the only entrance point and peered inside.

Pinkie's room was small. Much smaller than Rainbow would have thought would be acceptable for a pony as energetic as Pinkie, though it still managed to keep the normal Pinkie Pie flare. Several colorful streamers were strung along the ceiling, a few chairs and tables could be found in her room and each one had one or more balloons tied to them. Unblown balloons and rolls of streamers rested on the tables as well as several other things one would find at Pinkie's parties. Noise makers and even refreshments were laid out as though they were expecting a party that likely would never happen. Rainbow pushed herself through the small window and fell to the floor a bit harder than she expected. That fall was nothing however. Nothing to what Rainbow saw on the only wall she couldn't see from the window due to a cabinet being in the way. A large white banner rolled out across the top of the wall that read "Life's a party!"

Rainbow could feel her heart begin to race, the memories of the first time she saw a banner like that springing into memory. Anxious as she was however, Rainbow was curious as to what was in the cabinet. Standing in front it she noticed it was well crafted, the doors had an intricate design carved into it and the wood itself looked sturdy if not a bit heavier than the average lumber. Shiny and well polished to the point of being slippery to the touch, Rainbow grabbed the large brass handle and pulled the cabinet open. The sight almost made her fall backwards with shock. Pony heads. Most of them were nearly unrecognizable due to the graffiti so Rainbow couldn't really make out most of them. But she did see one in particular. Her fiery orange and yellow mane was unmistakable. Her skull may have been painted several colors like a clown but Rainbow knew who this was.

"Spitfire..." She said aloud in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't happening. Rainbow backed up and nearly tripped over a chair, her heart racing and lungs working overtime, she could feel her eyes sting with hot tears as she stared at her idol's cold and lifeless skull. "No...NO!" She yelled, not caring who could hear her at this point. Pinkie went too far. She would let her know that today. Rainbow grabbed Spitfire's skull, careful not to drop her and grabbed a party bag that she found in the room. Placing her idol in there carefully before flying downstairs to grab a weapon. _I'll avenge you._ She promised to herself and all the others that had fallen victim to Pinkie.

111

Rainbow found something worthy of a weapon downstairs, a hot poker from the fire place. While Rainbow waited she decided to scrounge around the kitchen a bit when she noticed the tray of poisoned cupcakes Pinkie had made for her. In a fit of rage Rainbow smashed the tray sending pastry and frosting all over the kitchen on to herself. She grabbed the nearest cloth to wipe herself of the dangerous treats and continued through the kitchen, all the while wondering where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were. _They're probably one of those skulls._ She thought darkly, but she didn't dwell too much on the thought, the weight in the party bag at her side gave her more than enough to think about right now.

_How did Pinkie even get to Spitfire_? This thought came up often in the hour she spent waiting for Pinkie, the next most popular question being if any of the other Wonderbolts got involved. Rainbow walked back out into the front room, to be certain that she'd be ready for Pinkie when she came through that door, but while she was waiting her stomach growled. Rainbow remembered that there were a lot of not poisonous food in the display cases and decided to grab a doughnut while she waited. As she took a bite she couldn't deny the bliss that her mouth felt as she chewed the still warm pastry. Sweet fluffiness with just a slight crunch, the sweet glaze melded with the soft bread to create a certain bliss that Rainbow would never be able to put into words.

Rainbow waited for another ten minutes still with no sign of the pink devil. She began to get bored and started to rummage through the shop again when a sound caught her attention. It came from behind her, back in the front room. Rainbow nearly screamed when she heard it, could Pinkie have really snuck up on her? Rainbow whipped around, brandishing the hot poker in her fore hoof and was met with relief when all she saw was Pinkie's pet alligator gummy chewing on a balloon that he likely got from Pinkies room. Rainbow sighed in relief as she returned to her post. Then the lights turned on.

She nearly dropped her weapon as the lights temporarily blinded her, raising a fore hoof to block the light from her eyes. It took a bit for her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness and when they finally did, Rainbow's vision was suddenly filled with-

"Hi Dashie!" Rainbow stepped back from Pinkie, her whole body shivering, whether it be from fear or excitement though she didn't know. Rainbow glared at Pinkie from across the room while she just smiled obliviously. Rainbow's hoof shook, the weight of the poker felt significant, she gripped it harder, a question burning in her. Rainbow reached into the party bag and pulled Spitfire's skull from it, holding it with her wing.

"Why?" Was all she could ask. Pinkie's face changed as recognition of the remains reached her. She frowned, her secret out.

"How did you find that?" She asked. Rainbow just glared back at her and repeated her question. Pinkie didn't answer and this frustrated Rainbow.

"Answer me!" Rainbow yelled, raising the poker up. Pinkie's frown however dissolved into a smile, but this smile was much different from the usual smiles Pinkie gave. This one was dark and a little cockey.

"And what do plan to do with that?" Dash couldn't take any more. She got as close to Pinkie as she could and swung the poker, aiming for Pinkie's face but to her surprise she only hit air. Pinkie dropped below the swing and smashed her fore hoof into Dash's ribs. She felt one crack beneath the intensity of the blow, but Pinkie hadn't finished. She smacked Dash across the face and grabbed the poker easily pulling it from Dash in her confusion. The poker connected to the side of her head and Dash went down to the floor clutching the spot she'd been hit. Pinkie looked down at her, any remnants of a smile vanished from her face and she looked at her with only a cold rage.

"Well that was a fine howdy do" She spat. Dash merely growled in response. "I went through all of this trouble to plan a very special day for just the two of us and THIS is how you thank me? I bet you don't even know how far I went to find you." Dash attempted to get herself off the ground but Pinkie pinned her, straddling her torso with her thighs she pinned Dash's wings down with her knees and Dash's fore legs with her own. "Now say you're sorry!" She yelled pressing her nose up to Dash's.

"Buck you. You're nothing but an evil bitch!" Dash yelled back to which Pinkie backed off a bit.

"An evil bitch? Dashie that's ridiculous I look nothing like a Cerberus." Dash stared at her.

"...What."

"I said I look nothing like a Cerberus." She repeated.

"That's not...ugh never mind." Dash sighed. _Am I really meeting my end to this idiot?_

"Okey Dokey Loki! So...what were we talking about?" She asked If Dash could facehoof right now, she would. Rather than jog Pinkie's memory Dash decided to use Pinkie's confusion against her, Dash lurched her head forward and connected it to Pinkie's, a dull thud could be heard as they both connected. Pinkie stumbled backwards And Dash was quick to react, ignoring the dull ache in her head she dove forward and tackled Pinkie to the ground but before she could get a good hit in Pinkie's fore hoof connected to Dash's jaw. Dash could feel blood run down where a broken tooth now sits. Pinkie brought her back legs to her chest then kicked out without, both hooves hit Dash's chest and sent her sprawling across the room into a wall.

Dash couldn't even move before Pinkie was on top of her again, this time with the hot poker in hoof. Pinkie just laughed as she brought the iron rod down to Dash's head. It took a few whacks but soon Dash felt herself lose grip with her consciousness.

111

"Wakey wakey Dashie." Dash woke up to the sound of Pinkie's voice though she was in complete darkness once again, she didn't have to think too hard about where she was. "You've wasted a lot of my time Dashie. So let's make this quick shall we?" Though Dash knew where Pinkie was she couldn't see her anywhere. "It was fun playing with you before though." Pinkie said as the over hanging light came on, blinding Dash for the second time this day. The tray of tools came shortly afterward, smashing into Dash's leg as it came driving into the light.

Dash sighed as she looked up and noticed that she was indeed in the dungeon that she remembered from the first time. The intestine balloons, skin chairs, banner and all. Dash would have been more scared but the constant memories of this place prevented her from being so.

"So Dashie. Are you ready to begin?" Pinkie asked, dressed up in that bizarre pelt dress. Dash didn't even bother asking anything, she simply nodded when a thought sprung to mind. She remembered not thinking much of it before but an answer to one of the questions Dash answered brought up another important question to her.

"Pinkie. Why are you doing this?" Pinkie seemed to consider this one for a while before smiling at Dash.

"Sorry Dashie, your number came up and well, I don't make the rules." That's it. That's what Dash wanted to know.

"So who does then?" Pinkie froze.

"What?"

"If you don't make the rules then who does?" Pinkie kept her back to Dash as she made her way to the tray to grab the scalpel from it. When she turned back to Dash her smile was...creepy. Even for this situation. Dash couldn't put a hoof on why though. Maybe because it looked so...fake.

"You don't want to know about that." She said much to Dash's confusion.

"Uh...yes I do." She said. Pinkie brought the scalpel up to Dash's left cutie mark.

"Well I can't tell you." She said. "You'll blab it to everypony else. It's the same reason I can't let you leave."

Dash stared at her. The scalpel pressed painfully to her cutie mark. "Well you can tell me right? After all a dead mare tells no tales right?" Dash tried to give as convincing a grin as she could manage and Pinkie seemed to mull this over. But it didn't take long for her to shake her head.

"I can't be so sure of that." Pinkie twisted the scalpel as though playing with it, it started to drill a nice hole into Dash's thigh but she ignored it for the most part. "Wanna hear how I got started with this?" She asked suddenly.

Dash was taken aback by the sudden proposal but nodded anyways. Pinkie stabbed the scalpel into Dash's leg suddenly and began cutting a circle around her cutie mark.

"As you know, I grew up on a rock farm where there was no laughter or smiles. Just rocks." She said as she finished the carving, Dash had to bite her lip to keep from screaming out from the suddenness of it. Pinkie went over to the tray to grab the curved knife. "What you might not know is that I had two sisters." She began peeling the cutie mark from Dash's thigh. "I was the oldest." She added.

Rainbow looked at Pinkie when she finally finished removing the cutie mark, her thigh giving off that increasingly familiar burning sensation. Dash let out a held breath as Pinkie began to make her way to her next cutie mark. "H-had?" The word came out before Dash even knew what she was asking.

Pinkie looked up at Dash as if she wasn't expecting her to interrupt. She smiled anyways. "Yes. Had. I was getting to it." She said. Something about her didn't feel right this time. Pinkie seemed way more off than usual, speaking in monotone and not bouncing around. And not telling jokes. Dash couldn't help but feel that was a plus. "My father was very strict about rules in out household. Breaking them meant he would get the discipline stick, a stick that he drove the gems we farmed into. If he got that then somepony was getting hit." Pinkie placed the scalpel right against Dash's thigh again and stopped, her eyes narrowing.

"Since I was the oldest I got hit with it the most." She said, driving the scalpel so deep into Dash's thigh that it hit her bone. Dash gritted her teeth at the sudden ferocity of Pinkie's Stab. "He went a little crazy with it and ended up putting my middle sister Inkie into a coma. One she never woke up from." Pinkie dragged the scalpel down Dash's leg, causing her to scream out as the cold blade ripped straight through her flesh. "My mother was weak, and my youngest sister was to young to do anything about it, so I took matters into my own hooves."

Pinkie brought the scalpel back up to Dash's thigh and just repeated the process. "So one day, when he was working out on the farm, I went into action. I hit him in the back of the head with the biggest and heaviest rock I could possibly find. When he was out cold I took him to out shed. Nopony used it anymore since we got a new one so it was the perfect place to hide him." Pinkie pulled the scalpel out, seemingly ignoring Dash's cutie mark, she instead brought the scalpel to Dash's face.

"I played with him in there. Just like now. But you know, I found out that pony meat makes good cupcakes completely by accident. I tasted his blood and realized just what it would do. And that's how I started making cupcakes!" The sudden outburst caused Dash to jump in surprise. "What did you think?"

Dash stared dumbfounded, just what the hell kind of story was that? Though a question did come to mind. "What happened to your youngest sister?"

Pinkie simply grinned at her in response. "You mean Blinkie?" She asked. Dash nodded, though uncertain if that was the name of her sister. Pinkie simply raised the scalpel and slashed it across Dash's neck, her blood spraying out and covering Pinkie's face entirely, but she never closed her eyes as Dash's arteries sputtered out of blood. She just continued to glare at her, and the last thing Rainbow heard was Pinkies last words to her and the sound of her own blood dripping to the floor. "That's classified."


	5. Loop 5

**Okay, I know what you're all thinking. Why did this take so long to get out? Well with a mixture of writer's block hitting me on and off, no inspiration to continue this story for a bit, uncertainty of how I'm going to continue this story, talking to a friend, and personal problems, this got put on the back burner. But it's here now and I will promise you that I will not let another update take this long ever again. So with that, please enjoy my writing and leave a review if you'd be so kind.**

Rainbow didn't move. She couldn't move. Her legs wouldn't allow her. She had managed to just crawl out of bed after shutting that crow up but now she's found herself stuck in place, like her hooves got frozen to her cloudy floor. She stared ahead at the wall to her room, a picture of Spitfire hung on her wall, her deep brown eyes heavily lidded and a smug grin on her face. Rainbow could just hardly make out her blue jumpsuit below her neck line. The photo was signed by Spitfire herself, her words hastily scribbled onto the bottom right corner of the photo, but Dash knew exactly what the words said. "Never give up hope. Always follow your dreams. Your friend, Spitfire." It was more or less what she wrote on all of the things she signed, but to Rainbow, these words were special. They felt different when Spitfire said them to her; like she wasn't just rattling through an automatic response, but instead was saying them directly to Rainbow. She knew that wasn't the case though, but she could dream couldn't she?

Rainbow felt a tear slide down her face and she let out a pitiful sob. She didn't want to look at the picture anymore, but her legs wouldn't let her move. They stood there, completely frozen in place. A warm breeze flew into Rainbow's room and ruffled her mane a bit; colorful strands danced around in form of her eyes but she didn't even notice. Her eyes stayed fixed on the picture of her idol. Rainbow felt a lot looking at that picture, a raging flood of emotions ran through her brain. Anger, sadness, fear, so many different emotions but she couldn't pinpoint what it was she was feeling exactly. They all cycled through her mind and buzzed about in her brain like a hive of angry bees. She felt angry. Angry that Pinkie would do this to her...to so many others...to her idol. She was sad that Pinkie would do this too. Pinkie was probably Rainbow's best friend. She recounted the times over and over in her head what the two of them would do together. Thinking about all that now just made Dash sick to her stomach. To think she considered a psychopath like Pinkie a friend.

Dash closes her eyes for a moment, trying to calm herself down. She looks out her window and notices that the sun was high into the sky, casting its golden glare into Rainbow's room. _It's already afternoon?_ Rainbow was shocked. She must have been standing in this spot for hours now. She sighs. _No point in leaving now._ She thinks to herself. She finally manages to will her legs to carry her back to her bed. As soon as she arrives she lays down into her bed and closes her eyes, falling asleep shortly after. Her mind could really use a rest after all.

111

Twilight Sparkle sat at a desk in her study, a thick book laid out in front of her. To the top left corner sat a quill stuck inside an inkwell that was half empty. On the right side of the book was a piece of parchment that had very neat writing printed across it. Twilight sighs, dragging her eyes across the book despite the fact that she really just wanted to close the book and move on. So many things inside it was completely unfounded despite being treated as fact. It drove Twilight up a wall, but she just couldn't look away from it. She wouldn't. She didn't know what it was, but something told her to pick up this book and study it today. Twilight was so into the book that she didn't even notice that someone was at the door until the sharp sound of a claw tapping on the wall of her study alerted her.

"Twilight? Pinkie's at the door. She said she wants to talk to you." Spike says. Twilight looks up from her book as if snapped out of a trance.

"Huh?" She asks, completely missing what Spike had told her.

"Pinkie Pie. Door. Now." He says before walking away to attend to his duties. Twilight groans rubs her eyes with her hooves before letting out a deep yawn. She hadn't found anything she was looking for in that book she was reading, of course, she really didn't know what it was she was looking for. She knew she had to talk to her friend, but she didn't want to leave that book, it was strange but she just couldn't look away. Finally Twilight manages to tear her eyes away from the book and trot over to the front door to find Pinkie standing outside. She smiles in her usual Pinkie Pie way which, for a fraction of a second startled Twilight.

"Hiya Twilight!" She nearly yells, prompting Twilight to rub her ear gently.

"Hi Pinkie...what brings you here?" Twilight didn't know what it was but somehow this situation seemed...familiar.

"Actually I'm looking for somepony. Have you seen Dashie? We were supposed to spend the day together but she never showed up. I'm starting to get worried." Pinkie says, her smile fading just a bit. Twilight glances away from Pinkie, back at the book in her study.

"Sorry, she hasn't been around here lately. Are you sure she's not just napping on a cloud?" Twilight asks. Pinkie nods quickly. Twilight takes a quick glance at her study.

"I'm super-duper sure! I checked every cloud in Ponyville and she wasn't in any of them." Pinkie's smile almost completely faded at this point. "What if she doesn't like me anymore?" She asks, sniffling a bit. Twilight shakes her head at Pinkie.

"That's not true and you know it Pinkie. You and Rainbow are two of the closest friends I've ever seen. There has to be a good reason for why she didn't show up. Something probably came up." Twilight says. Rainbow Dash was the element of loyalty. She'd have to have a a pretty good reason to ditch one of her friends. Pinkie nods, perking up a bit as she does.

"You're right Twilight. I'm just being silly. You remember the last time I was being silly, don't you?" She asks. Twilight nods slowly.

"Oh yes...Rainbow Dash told us the tales of what she saw in your room that day." Twilight says, laughing. Pinkie giggles as well.

"Yeah. Well I'm going back to Sugar Cube Corner to wait for her. If you see her, tell her that her auntie Pinkie Pie is waiting for her!" She says bouncing off.

"But you're not..." Twilight starts but Pinkie was long gone by now. "How does she jump so quickly? I don't think it's physically possible for her to do..." Twilight shrugs and closes the door, soon returning to her book. It was still right where she left it. She dove back into it, though now she couldn't get another thought out of her mind. First it was the weird desire to read through a book that she normally wouldn't on any given day, and now that conversation with Pinkie Pie felt like it had happened before. She shakes her head. "Deja Vu." She mumbles to herself as she lifts the quill from the inkwell and taps it against the side three times before bringing it to the parchment and writing down some notes.

111

"Twilight was acting a bit weird today." Pinkie says to seemingly no one. "She kept looking at her study for some reason." She continues even though she got no response to her words. Pinkie's ear's droop sadly as she sits down in the center of a darkened room. "And Dashie never came today..." She says sadly. She reaches up and grabs a dangling chain. She pulls it down and a lamp slowly flickers to life, lighting up the room she was in. The room looked fairly blank. The walls were a solid white and the door was dark brown. A single table sat in the center of the room under the swinging lamp overhead. Pinkie sat at the table, staring at one of the blank walls. She was wearing a crudely fashioned dress that was patched together like a quilt. The dress, upon closer inspection would reveal to be made of cutie marks. Pegasus wings of all colors and sizes were stitched to the back of the dress and she was also wearing a necklace of unicorn horns that clattered together whenever she moved her head. Pinkie sighs. "I just don't know why she would completely ignore me like this." Pinkie sniffles and looks down at the floor sadly. She watched as some tears dropped to the ground. "I just wanted to have a party with her..." She sobs.

She suddenly tilts her head up as if somepony had put their hoof under her chin and tipped her head up to look at them. She chokes back a sob and smiles. "You're right." She says. "It's not the end of the world. There's always tomorrow." She perks up and hops to her hooves again. "Yeah! I'll just invite her to the party tomorrow! And it will be bigger! And better than the one I planned today! So big that nopony would EVER miss it!" She bounces out of the room at full speed, her tail knocking the lamp as she left. The lamp swung and lit up a dark corner of the room where there was what seemed to be a small shrine dedicated to a pony with a short gray mane and a purple coat. The shrine was surrounded by all sorts of cupcakes of different colors and the skulls of three ponies. A picture sat on a table of the mare when she was a filly. In the center of the shrine was a pony with a short gray mane and a purple coat. She didn't move at all, her skin stretched and dry. Her eyes were gone, replaced with two cupcakes tipped on their side so the frosting was sticking out of her sockets. They were both different colors, one colored to be black and gray and the other colored gray and purple. The mare was stuck with a permanent smile cut into her face. She stared at Pinkie as she bounced from the room.

111

Rainbow Dash sighs as she sits atop her cloud palace, looking out at Ponyville as everypony started to end their days. As Dash stared out into the peaceful countryside she couldn't help but feel at peace herself. This was really one of her favorite things to do when she stressed. Just seeing everything so calm would almost instantly calm Rainbow down, but it wasn't only the peaceful nighttime that soothed Dash. It was also the fact that she had successfully avoided Pinkie all day today. She felt proud of herself despite the fact that she did next to nothing to do it. She had thought that she heard Pinkie calling for her in her but she just figured that was a nightmare. Rainbow looks up at the beautiful full moon and sighs. Maybe she could escape this endless nightmare finally.

Rainbow stands up and stretches her wings out, yawning a bit. She decided that it would be best for her to head to bed before something bad could happen to her. She leaps off of her roof and starts to glide down to her window when she's suddenly smacked by something. She was plummeting to the ground quickly. She tried to fly to stop herself from hitting the ground but she just couldn't do it, she was tangled up on whatever it was that hit her. Dash manages to get a good look at the offending thing in her struggle. It was a gray pegasus with a messy blonde mane and a wall eyed expression that was always on her face, though her eyes were closed as they fell. Dash looked at the ground which was rising up fast to meet her. She could do nothing but scream as it came closer and closer. _A pegasus __dying by falling...I hate my life..._

The ground meets Dash's head with a sickening crack, the impact of the ground and the weight of the pegasus on top of her shattered Dash's neck like it was a glass tube. The pegasus stands up and shakes her head, relatively okay except for a bump that was coming in. She looks down at Rainbow and frowns. "You okay Rainbow Dash?" She asks, prodding Dash with her hoof. "Rainbow Dash?"

"CAW! CAW!" Dash awoke with a start as that crow made it's morning call on Rainbow's windowsill. Rainbow just growls and stares up at her ceiling, gritting her teeth.

"Dammit Derpy."


End file.
